preliminary history of the bushaway neighborhood

HISTORY
OF
BUSHAWAY ROAD
AND ITS
NEIGHBORHOOD
1858 – 2009
SEPTEMBER, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. History of Bushaway Road……………………….............4
II. “Carpenter’s Point” South of McGinty Road……………..8
III. Bushaway Neighborhood North of McGinty Road……..24
IV. Bushaway Road 150 Years – the Sesquicentennial…..…41
V. Bibliography …………………………………………….. 43
VI. Appendix: Petition to Annexation into Wayzata, 1956… 44
INTRODUCTION
THE HISTORY OF BUSHAWAY ROAD AND ITS NEIGHBORHOOD documents the early
history of the road and settlement of the neighborhood. The research was conducted and
prepared by Irene Stemmer, of the Wayzata Heritage Preservation Board (HPB) 1 as a means
of preserving the history of the Bushaway Road and its neighborhood.
We began with a history of the road. Thanks to Nancy Kehmeier, who located the original
1858 surveyor’s map of the “Shakopee to Dayton” road, we knew in 2008 that County Road
101 (Bushaway Road) was a 150 year old road. Unfortunately, just being 150 years old was
not enough. Historian Bob Frame of Mead & Hunt reviewed the history of the road and
deemed it ineligible for consideration as a “historic road” due to the changes over the years
to the surface. So we stopped the presses and celebrated our 150 year old road. 2
The next step was to document the history of the neighborhood. The Bushaway and West
Holdridge land was annexed to Wayzata in 1956 which was after many of the early histories
were written about our city, so where do you start?
The starting point became the “Architectural History Evaluation of Locust Hills Estate by
Andrew J. Schmidt, historian of Summit Envirosolutions, Inc. completed in 2005. My
thanks to Andrew for his permission to use his research for the basis of the Carpenter’s
Point history, and Robert Vogel’s report on Historical and Architectural Resources of
Wayzata, Minnesota, 2003, commissioned by Wayzata Historical Society and the City of
Wayzata.
The document is divided into three parts:
• PART I is the history of Bushaway Road a section of County Road 101.
• PART II contains extensive and detailed history of “Carpenter’s Point,” the area
1
The role of the HPB is to safeguard the heritage of Wayzata by preserving sites and structures that reflect elements of the city’s cultural,
political, economic, visual and architectural history. The HPB is also responsible for providing ongoing historic education to promote
Wayzata’s heritage through publications documenting its history, media coverage and sponsoring historic events.
2
A Bushaway neighborhood birthday party was held complete with birthday cake at the Piper/Hawley house in October, 2008. On
November 1, 2008, a public sesquicentennial celebration of Bushaway Road was held in the community room of Wayzata City Hall, with
a slide presentation of the history of the road and the neighborhood in conjunction with the Minnesota Statehood sesquicentennial
commemoration.
2
•
from the Gray’s Bay causeway to McGinty Road and the history of the first
landowners, homeowners and architects of houses 50 years old and older.
PART III is the same as Part II except that it covers the neighborhood north of
McGinty Road to Wayzata Boulevard, the end of the Bushaway corridor.
Brief histories of family members and the earliest residents are included because “who they
were and what they did” is a valuable part of the history of a neighborhood. It was a unique
community from the very beginning because it consisted almost entirely of upscale summer
homes and gentlemen style farms. It was the beginning of a new era when affluent leaders
of Minneapolis could afford a “house in town” and a “summer home at the lake” or a farm
in the country. It was also a time when roads were being improved and automobiles were
more plentiful. We are very fortunate that several of these first houses, designed by
prominent architects of the period, are still standing and have retained their original charm
and character.
I have attempted to establish the construction date of each house but many times without
architectural documents had to rely on the Hennepin County Property records. Early dates
are not always accurate and there could be errors. Please notify me if you find mistakes in
any regard so the archive copies can be corrected. I can be reached at [email protected]
or 952-475-0395.
As an “amateur historian”, I needed a great deal of research assistance. I am particularly
grateful for my daughter, Gretchen, who not only had research experience but also is a
“wizard” on the internet moving through obituaries, census records, biographies,
genealogies, libraries and archives. I couldn’t have done it without her. The internet proved
to be a new method being used to record historic information and is a short cut for
researching old records and biographies including the archives of the Minnesota Historical
Society.
My sincere thanks also to Ron Anderson for taking all the pictures of the houses, locating
abstracts, completing the design and layout, and his genuine interest and support. The
abstracts can’t tell us whom the owners were when the houses were built but it does give us
the succession of the landowners and people to research.
I am also grateful to all of you who presently live on Bushaway Road, whose names do not
appear in the history for privacy reasons, but who willingly shared their stories and searched
through old records. And my sincere appreciation to Merrily Borg Babcock for editing my
work and all those who took the time to talk with me either by phone, e-mail, interviews or
even stopping when passing through town for a picnic in the WHS archives!
Irene Stemmer
3
THE HISTORY OF BUSHAWAY ROAD
Pre 1858: The Road
Native Americans, Trappers, and Settlers
Long before the Minnesota Territory opened for settlement, the Dakota Mdewakanton
Native American Tribe camped throughout much of eastern Minnesota. Lake Minnetonka
was part of their homeland. The Dakota were known for their hunting, fishing and gathering
wild rice on Lake Minnetonka and collecting fall blueberries and currents growing wild at
the edge of the Big Woods. They would summer camp on the prairies where the buffalo
were roaming and winter camp along Lake Minnetonka where deer were plentiful in the
forests. Remnants of fire pits were discovered on the Locust Hills Farm along Gray’s Bay
and burial mounds dot several locations around and near the lake, including Wayzata at
Ferndale and the bluffs where the city hall is located today.
Many writers claim the Dakota Sioux kept the secret of Lake Minnetonka away from fur
traders and settlers in order to protect it as a cultural treasure, but evidence of a fur trader’s
log cabin for storing furs is located on Bushaway Road.
The above picture shows the fur trapper’s cabin between the Field House at 324 Bushaway and the
railroad tracks. This cabin is dated from the late 1700s and was apparently used for storing furs to be
delivered down Minnehaha Creek to St. Anthony.
Dakota Sioux sovereignty over Hennepin County was extinguished by the Treaty of
Traverse des Sioux in 1851, and by 1854, the Mdewakanton were resettled on the Sioux
Agency Reservation on the Minnesota River.
Indian trails became wagon trails, which eventually were used to construct a road system.
The two main roads in the area were the Shakopee/Dayton Road, running north and south
(County Road 101), of which the Wayzata section is called Bushaway, and the Old Mill
Road (McGinty) running east and west to Minnetonka Mills and Fort Ridgley. The
Shakopee/Dayton road also intersected with the St. Anthony trail from Wayzata to
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Minneapolis and would eventually become a link to the roadway that encircled Lake
Minnetonka.
This map is a section of the 1858 official survey map of the “Shakopee to Dayton Road” that shows the
road winding through the Lake Minnetonka area. Note that Shaver owned the land just below the
Gray’s Bay causeway.
In October, 1858, the commissioners of Hennepin and Carver counties signed the following
document (printed on the corner of the plat map.)
We the undersigned duly qualified Commissioners of the State Road from
Dayton to Shakopee in Hennepin and Carver Counties hereby certify that
we have located and surveyed said road in accordance with the provisions
of the act of the Legislature granting a Charter to said Road by the most
direct and feasible route.
The Plat Map was certified by Franklin Cook, Surveyor and County Commissioner, as being
the correct Plan of the State road from Dayton to Shakopee in Hennepin-Carver Counties,
Minnesota as he surveyed it. It was dated October, 1858 and ordered recorded on
November 3, 1858.
5
Officially, it was called the “Dayton to Shakopee Road.” Although the State requested the
road to be built as “developmentally straight as possible,” it was a winding road,
nonetheless, that may well have followed the trail of the old Dakota Sioux as they moved
from Shakopee to Wayzata each year to winter camp.
James Shaver and his extended family in mid-1800s
Bayard Shaver wrote about “the road” in his memoirs. He was one of the twin boys born to
James and Sarah Chowen Shaver in 1853, the first white babies born in the area. He wrote
in his memoirs that his father was a “chain man” holding one end of the chain during the
surveying. Franklin Cook, father of F. W. Cook, for many years a member of the Hennepin
County Commissioners, was the primary surveyor. Shaver says Cook foresaw the need of a
road crossing the lower lake and he utilized the long peninsula projecting south from the
present Old Holdridge for the location of a section of this important roadway.
Shaver goes on to write that his uncle William H. Chowen, chairman of the Board of County
Commissioners, finally secured appropriations for the construction of a wooden bridge with
tubular iron piers to cross the channel into Gray’s Bay. With the addition of the bridge in
c.1878 and completion of the road through the tall heavy timber from Deephaven to
Excelsior it became possible for the people living in Wayzata and the adjoining north shore
of Lake Minnetonka to travel to Excelsior without using the indirect route through
Minnetonka Mills. An 1896 map on the next page by George W. Cooley shows that there
was a drawbridge mid-way along the causeway. At one time, there was another drawbridge
across a channel midway between 501 and 433 Bushaway on “Carpenter’s Point”
connecting Wayzata Bay with the lagoon at Locust Hills.
6
Notice on this 1896 map that not only was the Great Northern Railroad going into Wayzata
at the top of this map, but another rail line, headed for Excelsior, can be seen below
Wayzata Bay and Gray’s Bay. Note those 110 years ago, Gray’s Bay was called Gray’s
Lake or Outlet Lake.
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PART II -“CARPENTER’S POINT”
South of McGinty Road
By 1850, early pioneers started arriving and settling around the northeast shore of Lake
Minnetonka. Hand drawn plat maps recorded the names of the land owners who were
claiming their plats by “squatter’s rights” (building a shanty and living on the land) before
the government extended the Act of Preemption which allowed each settler to purchase 160
acres.
Much of the land in the new Minnesota territory was bought and sold many times over, but
the land along the peninsula (Bushaway) was owned by a relatively small number of people,
one of them being James Shaver, Jr. When Shaver originally marked the trees and platted
his own land, he found he had marked off over 700 acres. The United States government
“Act of Preemption” allowed only 160 acres per settler. This limitation on number of acres
was to prevent homesteaders from buying up large parcels of land. They wanted as many
people as possible to settle in the new state. A later map shows Shaver owning land on the
south shore of Wayzata Bay near a small body of water later named Shaver’s Lake.
In 1873, the next recorded owner of the peninsula from McGinty Road to the end of the
point was Jessie Wetmore. In 1875, Herbert M. Carpenter acquired the point. This tract of
land was an investment for Carpenter. He owned the land for a number of years and
eventually it became known as “Carpenter’s Point.”
Herbert M. Carpenter was born in 1828 in Providence, Rhode Island and married Kate Ladd
in 1852. The Carpenters had three children, Frank, Henry and Edwin. They moved to St.
Anthony (Minneapolis) in 1854. Besides being a property investor, Carpenter was an
entrepreneur of some renown having established a general store in 1858 with George H. and
Thomas F. Andrews called “Carpenter, Andrews & Company”. After the original store
burned down, he rebuilt the business on his own and later purchased and opened several
other businesses: a paper mill in St. Anthony, Union Railway Storage and Minneapolis
Jewelry Manufacturing Company. His wife Kate was active in voluntary organizations
together with other ladies of prominent families; the Pillsburys, Crosbys, Lowrys and
Heffelfingers, who would soon build homes on the west shore of Wayzata Bay (today
known as Ferndale. Some of the larger estates were referred to as “Gentlemen Farms.”
After Herbert Carpenter’s death in 1906, the land was divided between his wife Kate and
son Henry. In 1916, Carpenter’s Point was sub-divided into nine (9) lots “A through I”
fronting on Wayzata Bay. The area south the Old Mill Road (McGinty), remained a farm. In
1920, Henry Carpenter built a summer home on the 75 acres east of the road (later known as
Locust Hills.) After the death of his mother in 1924, Henry Carpenter married Clara Kirsch
and they had one daughter.
8
Henry Carpenter’s home and garage, 1920
Henry died in 1933, and soon after his wife transferred the “Carpenter Farm” to Locust Hills
Associates, Inc. Rufus R. Rand, Jr. (first Wayzata Mayor in 1928) was president of the
organization. James Dean, a noted Minneapolis investor, was secretary. Others involved in
this organization were Glen and Nadyne Traer, Alice and Benjamin Keator, Arthur Rand,
Paul and Hazel Brooks, George and Nina Piper, Jessie Crocker Wilcox, Harry Piper, Louis
Piper and Charles B. Sweatt.
For a short while, the group had a small country club on the Carpenter farm site. They
considered expanding the club and incorporating a golf course but there were too many low,
marshy areas and that idea was soon abandoned. There are, however, rumors about a
“Gentlemen’s Club” in operation during the prohibition era of the 1930s. This early club
became famous for the popular “Bootleg” drink (crushed mint, sweet soda and gin) which is
still popular at Woodhill Country Club today.
How Bushaway Got Its Name
In 1853, a Frenchman named John Bourgeois built a shanty on the high hill overlooking
Wayzata Bay. From that time on, it was known as “Bourgeois Mound.” He spent one winter
there with a man named Mr. McGalpin who was to teach him English. The Anglo Saxton
translation of his name somehow became “Bushaway” and the name stayed with the area
long after Bourgeois moved on to Minnetonka Mills where he opened a blacksmith shop.
9
HOMES ON CARPENTER’S POINT
1916: LEWIS PIPER HOUSE--623 Bushaway Road
This house reflects the influence of shingle and craftsman style architecture with wide eaves
and exposed rafter tails making the form more distinctive. The house was built in c.1916.
Although the original architect is unknown, an addition was designed by Liebenberg and
Kaplan, Architects in 1923 for Louis Piper to expand the house to the rear. The house is
located on the hill overlooking Wayzata Bay but the property actually extends across
Bushaway Road to Gray’s Bay.
Lewis Piper House, 623 Bushaway Rd
Louis H. Piper, one of the four sons of George F. Piper, Sr., was a Minneapolis investment
banker and a pioneer in the airlines industry. He was President of the Universal Aviation
Corporation until The Aviation Corporation acquired control of the company at which time
he relinquished the presidency and continued with the new corporation as chairman of that
board. Aviation Corporation later became The American Airlines we know today. He was
one of the chief figures in establishing a faster air-rail schedule between New York and
other eastern cities. Piper also gets the credit for inaugurating dining service on the
Universal planes. He died in 1929 at the age of 43 from complications of pneumonia.
According to the abstract for the property, his estate sold the house to Mrs. Georgie L.
Brooks in 1931. It appears that she owned the home until the time of her death in 1939 or 40
and was sold to Paul Cosgrove 1952. The present owner purchased the house about 1956.
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Early Piper Family History
George F. Piper, Sr. was born in 1856 in Minneapolis. His parents, Jefferson and Mary
(McDuffee) Piper were natives of Wolfboro, New Hampshire, who moved to Minneapolis
in 1854 and three years later to a farm near Mankato. Their son, George, attended a rural
school and after completing the eighth grade became a country school teacher himself. He
saved his money and attended the University of Minnesota for one year, returning home
when his father was in need of the money to pay off a serious debt.
In 1881, while teaching in Mankato, George Piper met and married Grace Brett. Grace was
the daughter of Cyrus and Mary Hunter Brett, natives of Maine who became pioneer
residents of southern Minnesota in 1864. The Pipers had four sons; Clarence B., Louis H.,
Harry C. and George F., Jr. and one daughter, Alice, who died when she was 2 years old.
Three of the brothers later had summer homes on Bushaway Road—Louis at 623, Harry at
421 and George, Jr. at 555.
Piper Family with George F. Piper, Sr. Seated
George Piper, Sr., returned to Minneapolis to begin a business career centered on the milling
and sale of linseed oil and the building of steel elevators. He was an active participant in the
purchase and development of land in Midwestern Canada, a project that succeeded in the
colonization of that area with settlers from the United States, much to the delight of the
Canadian government. While living in Minneapolis, the Piper family was members of
several of the social clubs including Woodhill and Lafayette Clubs at Lake Minnetonka and
the Manitoba Club of Winnipeg. Mr. George F. Piper, Sr. died in 1917.
1919: THE BROOKS HOUSE – 601 Bushaway Road
This large two and one-half story house was designed by Architect Harry Wild Jones one
of the Twin Cities’ leading designers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as a
summer home for Paul Andros Brooks and his wife, Hazel Von Hagen Brooks. Legend has
it that the home was a wedding gift for Paul and Hazel.
11
Jones was a master of many styles moving from Romanesque to Gothic to Classical Revival
and he became noted for his work with shingles to enhance his designs. The Brook’s main
house reflects this special interest with the thatched cedar shingle roof which makes it
appear to have been plucked right out of the Cotswold Hills in England. The house is a
Tudor Revival Style with a cross-gabled roof, massive stone chimneys and front and rear
porches. It faces west on the shore of Wayzata Bay. The charm has remained solidly intact
by thoughtful owners, with minimum alterations from the original design.
Brooks Family History
Paul Brook’s grandfather, Dr. Sheldon Brooks. Sr. moved his family to Minnesota territory
from New York in 1856 settling in Winona, Minnesota where he engaged in farming and
practicing medicine. He also constructed grain elevators until his retirement in 1874. Dr.
Brooks helped shape the early history of Minnesota by serving in the Minnesota House of
Representatives 1859-60. He died in Winona in 1883.
In 1896, Dr. Brook’s sons, Lester, Anson and Dwight, joined M. J. “Joe” Scanlon to open a
sawmill in Nickerson, Minnesota, and by 1901 they had formed “The Brooks Scanlon
Lumber Company” with sawmills in Minnesota, Oregon, Florida, Louisiana, Montana and
British Columbia. Paul Brooks, owner of the Brooks house at 601 Bushaway, was the son
of Anson Brooks. He joined his father in the lumber business as secretary of Brooks Scanlon
Lumber Company.
Paul Brooks was very interested in history
and was an early board member of the
Minnesota Historical Society. He had a
strong interest in conservation and was
involved in numerous conservation efforts
and he was an amateur photographer
receiving several awards for his work.
Paul and Hazel Brooks had four children,
Martha Pauline (Hollern), Sheldon Von
Hagen (owner of Minnetonka Boat Works
for 35 years), Barbara (Kroos), Stanley
(Gregory) and Anson Brooks. Paul Brooks
died in 1941 and his widow, Hazel,
continued to own the lake home until her
death in 1971. The house remained in the
family until 1973 when it was sold to its
present owner.
Paul Brooks, owner of Brooks Estate, 601 Bushaway
Originally the estate extended across the road to Gray’s Bay. The acreage was later
subdivided. The gardener’s cottage became 620 Bushaway Road and the cook’s cottage,
razed in 2008, was at 581 Bushaway. The carriage house (garage) and chauffeur’s apartment
12
is located south of the gated driveway to the main house. The two photos pictured below
were taken about 1919.
Brooks Gardener’s Cottage
Brooks Carriage House (garage)
This is the main Brooks House today, pictured from the Bushaway side of the house. Note the unique
curved edges of the cedar shake roof. Three of the buildings remain, preserved nearly as they were built
90 years ago
Architect Harry W. Jones.
Jones attended Brown’s College for two years and then transferred to MIT to study
architecture. After graduating, he came to Minneapolis and worked for William Channing
Whitney, also a prominent architect of homes around the lake (Highcroft, for one) before
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opening his own office. When Jones found Minnesota to have a shortage of draftsmen and
young architects to work in his office, he talked local university leaders into starting an
Architectural Department at the University of Minnesota and was its first professor. By
1892, he had developed a syllabus that could compete with its east coast contemporaries. In
1893, he returned to his private practice until his retirement in 1933.
Among his many architectural achievements were the Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, the first
Minnetonka Yacht Club, Wayzata Congregational Church (still standing at Walker Avenue
and Rice Street in Wayzata), Lake Harriet Pavilion, Scottish Rite Temple and numerous
homes around Lake Minnetonka and churches throughout the state and country.
1926: THE PIPER & HAWLEY HOUSE-555 Bushaway Road
This rambling two story Colonial Revival house was designed by Architect Andrew
Schuehle for George F. Piper, Jr. in 1926. The special feature of this summer cottage is its
lack of hallways so the gentle breeze from the lake could flow throughout the house and
keep it cool in summer.
It has a gabled roof with multiple dormers, wood shake siding and elaborate porches. The
elevation facing Wayzata Bay has a mass of windows and a screened porch which open the
house to its natural setting. The house is in excellent condition and has had few exterior
alterations.
The Piper Families Boating on Wayzata Bay
George F. Piper, Jr., married Nina Sturgis Lawler around 1910. They adopted three
children, George F. Piper III, Edmond and Alice Piper (Cestari). George Piper, Jr. was
president of the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Stock Exchange and was also involved in investment
banking. George F. Piper, Jr. died in 1965 and his wife in 1969.
The Piper children remember well the years at the lake house prior to moving to California.
Alice presently lives in Massachusetts and is an active member of the Wellesley
Conservation Council as an advocate for birds and raptors. Dr. Edmond Piper was a
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dermatologist and is retired in New Hampshire. George III, who stayed in the area, was well
known around Wayzata as owner/proprietor of the “Country Loft” an upscale clothing and
accessories store in Wayzata during the 1950s. He was an avid historian, collector of
antique cars and later had an antique store in a historic Victorian house in Carver,
Minnesota. George III died in 1996. (See 623 Bushaway Road for early Piper history)
1938 -J. B. Hawley purchases Piper House
J. B. “Jack” Hawley, Jr. purchased the cottage from George F. Piper, Jr. in 1938. He was
President of Northern Pump/Northern Ordnance at the time. When Jack decided to live on
Lake Minnetonka, he had three options available to him: the Rand house (Cargill estate),
Locust Hills or the Piper house, each of which had an asking price of $50,000.00. He chose
this house at 555 Bushaway on Wayzata Bay and ended up paying not $50,000 but $20,000
for his house on the lake! As a young man, Jack made frequent trips to Lake Minnetonka, a
place he learned to love at an early age.
Jack’s father, J. B. Hawley, Sr., was born in Red Wing, Minnesota, and graduated from the
University of Minnesota with an engineering degree. When Fort Worth, Texas needed a new
waterworks system in 1892, J. B. Hawley, Sr. headed south. He stayed on in Texas and
married Sue Terrell, daughter of a founding Fort Worth family. Thus, J. B. “Jack” Hawley,
Jr. was born and grew up in Texas.
After graduating from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1921, Jack Hawley, Jr. led
a busy life as an inventor of pumps--pumps for fire trucks, pumps for oil wells and
submersible pumps for navy submarines. He held patents on 36 different inventions.
Northern Ordinance was the largest producer of gun mounts in the free world. Northern
Pump/Northern Ordinance was noted for building the submersible pump for the Navy
Department for their war ships during World War II. He had a penchant for hard work, an
inventive mind and was a true patriot earning him and his company six Navy “E” awards
and an Army-Navy Four Star award for continuous excellence in production.
Jack Hawley, Jr. and Rosita (Zita)
Hofmeister were married on March 30,
1946. Jack and Zita had four children,
MacDonald, James, Lisa and Lane. Jack
had four children by two former marriages
so life in the house on Lake Minnetonka
would be quite lively at times. Prior to
marrying Jack Hawley, Zita was a
stewardess for Pan American Airlines,
stationed in Miami. Florida. Her regular
flights were back and forth to Cuba. Zita
grew up in Minneapolis and on Lake
Minnetonka. All told, she lived on
Wayzata Bay for over sixty-five years
enjoying all the wonderful activities the
lake had to offer. Mr. Hawley died in
June, 1980.
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The Piper/Hawley House from Wayzata Bay
1924-39: LOCUST HILLS FARM - 500 Bushaway Road
Henry and Clara Carpenter had a summer home on the property. (See above story on
Carpenters.) The Glenn Traer’s purchased the property from the Carpenters around 1930
and lived there throughout the decade. The Traers probably had the pool and tennis courts
built. Glenn was president of Traer & Company, an investment bank, and vice president of
Lane, Piper & Jaffray. In 1939, the Traers experienced financial difficulties and sold the
farm to Charles Baxter Sweatt, son of William R. Sweatt, co-founder of Honeywell.
Locust Hills Stable
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The Sweatts developed the property into a beautiful country estate, including two additions
to the main house, a guest house, and built additional houses for their employees. The farm
equipment building and horse and cow barn with living quarters for the riding master were
designed and built by McEnary & Kraft, Architects in the early 1940s. The beautifully
landscaped grounds and lavish gardens along with a paddock, show ring and pastures for
their thoroughbred horses was a popular showplace for fifty years. All the Sweatts were
riders and numerous horse shows were held there during the summer as well as the St.
Martins-by-the-Lake Episcopal Church Country Fair. The fair was an annual event open to
the public. The large banner advertising the fair that was stretched across Bushaway Road
each year was as memorable as the fair itself. The flock of stately white swans swimming in
the lagoon along the road caught the eye of every passerby during the summer months.
C. B. Sweatt History
Charles B. Sweatt was born in 1895, graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1917,
and served in the U.S. Cavalry during World War I. When he returned from the war, he
followed his older brother Harold, working at the Minneapolis Heat Regulator Company
owned by their father. In 1920, he was named Advertising Manager and a company director
and the following year became treasurer of the company. Following the 1927 merger with
Honeywell, he appointed vice president. He was vice chairman of the board of directors of
Honeywell between 1953 and 1960. Charles Sweatt was also vice president of the Midwest
Region of the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team and an officer in the American Horse
Association in 1977.
In 1927, Charles Sweatt married Margaret Elizabeth Lamberton, daughter of a prominent
family in Winona, Minnesota. They had four children: Charles, Jr., Harry, Sarah and Peggy.
Charles Sweatt, Sr. died in 1977 and Mrs. Sweatt in 2002.
The Sweatt Family enjoying their favorite pastime
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In 2006, the 75 acre farm was sold to Locust Hills Development Company to build a new
community of up-scale homes. During the excavation, remnants of fire pits and shards of
pottery were discovered on the property dating back to the Dakota Mdewakanton Native
American tribes that winter camped on the hill overlooking Gray’s Bay. All remnants were
removed and given to the Minnesota Historical Society. Only the farm equipment building
and the horse and cow barn still stand. The interior has been altered slightly, but the horse
stalls remain intact and the building now serves as a club house for the residents of the
development.
Architects McEnary & Krafft designed a number of homes in Ferndale: 1948, Benton Case;
1948, W. H. Bovey; 1930-31, an addition to the Franklin Crosby house; and in 1935,
George Dayton II house; and in 1946, the Newall Weed home in the Wayzata Highland;
1947, the Stanley Lyman house in Arlington Heights of Wayzata and in1935 Lyman
Barrow’s house in Holdridge off Bushaway Road.
1928: THE WILCOX & NASH HOUSE– 433 Bushaway Road
This two story, side gabled, Colonial Revival style house, covered in wood clapboard siding
was designed and built for Ralph Dewitt Wilcox and his wife, Jessie Crocker Wilcox for
their summer home on the lake. Records indicate that Henry and Clara Carpenter sold the
lakeshore lot to Jessie Wilcox in 1926.
The interior of the house is resplendent in high style millwork with 10 to 12 inch coves,
cathedral style windows and carved doors which could be directly attributed to the family
owned J. F. Wilcox Millwork Company.
Wilcox/Nash House in 19390s
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Wilcox Family History
Ralph’s father, John Wilcox, and his family were among the many early entrepreneurs of
Minneapolis/St Paul. The Wilcox family had a summer home at “Old Orchard” beach on
Tonka Bay. In addition to the sash and door company, they also founded Wilcox Motor
Company, which designed and built the Wolfe car, Greyhound buses and fire truck chassis.
(Wayzata Fire Department’s fire truck from Wilcox was purchased in 1924.)
Ralph Wilcox in a Wolfe Car Made by the Wilcox Motor Co.
Ralph Wilcox also had a love of airplanes and while the Wright Brothers were building and
flying their planes at Kitty Hawk, he and his cousin, A. C. Bennett, tried their hand at
building planes. They built two but neither one traveled more than a few feet before
crashing. The Wilcox brothers, however, did have a successful “Airplane on Ice.”
Ralph Wilcox and A. C. Bennett Building their airplane in 1907
19
After his father’s death in 1918, Ralph took over as
president of the millwork company while his brother
Harry managed Wilcox Motors.
Ralph married Jessie Crocker in 1914. Jessie was the
daughter of Silas and Elisabeth Crocker of Clarence,
Iowa where Mr. Crocker was a partner in the Crocker
& Wilcox (Albert) Company, patentees of the
wrought iron fence post and many other inventions.
Jessie moved to Minneapolis as a young girl where
she had Crocker relatives and also the John Wilcox
family who were relatives of her father’s partner,
Albert Wilcox. This may well be how Jessie Crocker
met Ralph Wilcox!
Ralph and Jessie had one son, William Crocker born
in 1917. They maintained their summer home until
1934.
The photo of Jessie Crocker Wilcox on the right hints
of her prominent place in Wayzata society. While her
husband invented all kinds of technology, she played
an active leadership role in the Locust Hills
Association, a powerful social club that for years
owned most of the property on Carpenter’s Point.
Robert L. Nash purchases the Wilcox House.
Robert was the son of Fred P. Nash, founder of the Nash Finch Wholesale Food Company.
Robert’s father, Fred P. Nash, had a summer home on Shady Lane, Arlington Heights,
Wayzata. Nash added the porch on the west side overlooking Wayzata Bay. The first tennis
court was originally near the shore of the Lagoon on the southwest corner of their property,
but after flooding during high water seasons or pumping to raise the water level of the lake,
a new tennis court was constructed on higher ground in 1945.
Robert L. Nash married Marcella Marfield in 1931. And they had four sons, Robert, John,
Charles and David. All have fond memories of growing up on Bushaway Road and Lake
Minnetonka. Although not boating-enthusiasts, they do recall cruising around on the lake in
a small 16 foot outboard motorboat to visit friends in the 1950s. All four boys and their
parents were avid tennis players.
Nash Family History
The Nash family immigrated to America from England settling in New Haven, Connecticut.
In 1884, Fred P. Nash came west for new opportunities homesteading in Stump Lake, North
Dakota west of Grand Forks. He soon discovered farming was not one of his greatest
talents and he abandoned that career in 1885. He moved to Devils Lake, North Dakota and
with brothers Edgar and Willis, founded the “Confectionary & Tobacco Store” with $400.00
and a penchant for hard work. A few years later, they opened a fruit store in Grand Forks.
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Nash Family: from the left front: Mrs. Robert Nash, David, Charles (seated on floor) Robert Nash (in
chair) standing at fireplace Mr. and Mrs. Robert Nash Jr., in the corner--John Nash
A “quirk of good luck” led Fred and his brothers into the wholesale produce business when
a boxcar of fresh peaches arrived in Grand Forks, North Dakota without a particular
designation. The Nash brothers borrowed money, (James J. Hill was one of the lenders)
purchased the load of peaches and wholesaled them out to area grocers. Thus began the
“Fortune 1000 Nash Finch Company” of today.
Harry B. Finch was taken into the company at age 14 to wash fruit, eventually becoming a
full partner in the company. In 1919, the company moved from Grand Forks to
Minneapolis, where they expanded to being a wholesale supplier to grocery stores under
their own “Our Family” label and in 1921 developed the famous Nash Coffee Brand.
Robert L. Nash, son of Fred P. Nash, was vice-president of the Nash Finch Company and in
later years, he was chairman of the Nash Holding Company
Robert Nash sold the house at the lake in 1968 for $108,500 to William P. and Virginia
Moyles, General Counsel for Control Data. After Moyles left Control Data in 1973, the
House was sold to the Christopher Dahl Family. The present owner purchased the house in
1977 and built an addition on the south side of the original structure.
1929: THE H. C. PIPER HOUSE – 421 Bushaway Road
This three story, Colonial Revival, clapboard sided cottage was designed by Liebenberg &
Kaplan, Architects as a summer home for Harry C. Piper in 1929. A screen porch
stretches across the entire front of the house facing Wayzata Bay. Above the first floor
porch is an open deck and small open porches extend from the third floor dormers. The
Piper’s year round home on Mount Curve Avenue in Minneapolis was a stately brick
mansion designed by the same architectural firm, however, the “house at the lake” with its
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numerous porches was a
true lakeshore cottage
designed to accommodate
a relaxed and carefree
lifestyle combined with a
beautiful view of Wayzata
Bay of Lake Minnetonka.
The house was sold in
1970 to George Butzow,
CEO of MTS Systems.
The present owner bought
the house in 1986. After a
fire in 2008, the owner
has been restoring it to its
original beauty.
H. C. Piper House at 421 Bushaway, taken from the lake
Piper, Jaffray and Company
In 1913, Harry C. Piper and C. Palmer Jaffray, classmates at Yale, formed a partnership of
Piper, Jaffray and Company. Four years later, they merged with George B. Lane to form a
company called Lane, Piper & Jaffray, Inc. The firm grew steadily through the 1920s to 45
brokers. After the stock market crash of 1929, they emerged a two-person office with
Robert G. Hopwood giving the company its most enduring and recognizable name, Piper,
Jaffray & Hopwood. They also had a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
In the years following World War II, the company
experienced growth through several expansions and
acquisitions to emerge in 1992 with a new name of Piper
Jaffray Companies, Inc. which it is to this day.
Harry C. Piper was born in 1889. He married Louise
Gillette around 1915. They had three children, Harry C.
Piper, Jr. (Virginia Lewis), Catherine (Charles Pierson and
after his death Francis Knoblauch), Louise (Morgan
Aldrich). Mr. Piper died in 1968 and his wife, Louise in
1980. (See 623 Bushaway Road for early family history.)
Harry C Piper and George Piper
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PART III—BUSHAWAY NEIGHBORHOOD
NORTH OF MCGINTY ROAD
1867: The Railroad
On August 24, 1867, the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad arrived in Wayzata and this event
triggered a vigorous but short spurt of local development. The financial crisis of 1873,
bankrupt the St. Paul & Pacific and in 1878 James J. Hill wrested control of the line. The
name changed to St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba where it became a taproot for the
Great Northern system.
The first depot was located at the foot of Broadway (Sunset’s parking lot). The tracks were
several feet farther north than they are today. Wayzata broke away from Minnetonka
Township and incorporated as a village with their own town officers and laws. Their first
order of business was to file a resolution to have James J. Hill move the railroad tracks 300
feet further north. The petition was denied. In 1890, the village sued Hill and forced him to
“move the tracks off the roadway along with the water tower for the trains and the pump
house.” Wayzata won this case and Mr. Hill grudgingly moved the tracks AND everything
else.
In 1893, Hill who was not noted for his congeniality, also removed Wayzata’s train depot at
the foot of Broadway by the lake and built a smaller depot just west of the present railroad
bridge at Bushaway Road south of the tracks. The land for the depot was sold to the
railroad by Mary Andrews, widow of Thomas F. Andrews. She wrote in her journal that the
“depot turned out quite nice.” Hill called that depot “Holdridge” which wiped “Wayzata”
off the map, although he still maintained a platform at the west end of town for his Ferndale
friends. The notorious Mr. Hill was heard to say “they can walk a mile for the next 20
years!” And walk they did through the muck and marsh into town for the next 12 years. In
1906, Mr. Hill recanted and built the present Wayzata depot. Designed by Samuel Bartlet,
complete with steam heat and indoor plumbing, it was said to be the “finest depot on the
Empire Builder’s line.”
Train Depot at the NW Corner of Bushaway/McGinty Intersection – Sign on Roof says “Holdridge”
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NORTH OF MCGINTY ROAD PROPERTY HISTORY
Unlike the land south of McGinty Road that was owned by the Carpenter family for a
number of years, the land north of McGinty Road had several prominent owners. According
to plat maps dating back to the early 1850s, Amasa Richards, of Sturbridge, Massachusetts,
who settled here in 1855, preempted 146 acres on the eastern boundary of Wayzata, just
west of Bushaway Road as we know it today. It encompassed most of Old Holdridge
neighborhood north of the tracks. After building his log house (location unknown), in 1858,
Richards married Mary Plimpton of Shakopee, daughter of Jabez Plimpton and Eliza
Bridges also from Sturbridge, MA. They had one son, George W. Richards who in his adult
life worked for the railroad and resided in Maple Plain. Amasa joined the Minnesota 11th
Regiment in 1864 and served at South Tunnel Station outside of Nashville, Tennessee. In
the ensuing years, Joseph and Annie Lacher purchased some of the Richards’ land as did
George Draper Dayton.
In 1878, approximately 70 acres, more or less”, was owned by brothers George H. and
Thomas F. Andrews. On an 1892 plat map, Thomas F. Andrews is listed as the sole owner.
Thomas was a developer and a builder, owning several houses and business buildings in St.
Anthony. He undoubtedly had plans for his land in Minnetonka but unfortunately, Thomas
died before he could realize his dream. The Andrews land was north of the Old Mill Road
(McGinty) adjacent to that of Herbert M. Carpenter on the south and angled northeast to
what is now Wayzata Boulevard and east into what is now West Holdridge much of which
was Big Woods forest.
Notes from Mary Andrew’s journal. In 1887, Mary
writes, “Thomas went to Wayzata today to see about
laying out the road and bridging the railroad.” And in
1891, “Thomas spent the whole day in St. Paul trying to
get a bill through concerning a boulevard to Wayzata.”
Thomas F. Andrews
Mrs. T. F. (Mary) Andrews
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Thomas F. Andrews and George H. Andrews
The Andrews brothers came to Minnesota in 1855 with two other young men, John Sargent
Pillsbury and Woodbury Fisk. All four men were from Merrimac County in New
Hampshire and all were destined to become influential members of the community. John S.
Pillsbury and the Andrews brothers were cousins and later they all became more united
when Pillsbury and Thomas Andrews married Fisk’s sisters.
Thomas and George Andrews partnered with H. M. Carpenter (see South of McGinty Road,
Carpenter’s Point) in 1858 in a general store in St. Anthony (Minneapolis), Carpenter,
Andrews & Company, and when it succumbed to fire two years later, the Andrews brothers
opened a general store of their own on the site that would later become the location of the
Pillsbury “A” Mill. After 10 years of business there, they moved to a new location on
Nicollet Avenue where they carried only dry goods and clothing. In 1875, they dissolved
the business and Thomas F. Andrews continued in the real estate business and public
service.
He served as an alderman from St. Anthony in 1862, and was a member of the Minneapolis
City Council for several terms, appointed President in 1882 and at times acting mayor. He
was chairman of numerous committees and particularly noted for negotiating condemnation
of private property for public use which was often a very difficult procedure. In 1884, he
was appointed to the Water Commission by Mayor George A. Pillsbury.
Thomas F. Andrews, Jr., was the oldest son of Nathan Andrews of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and Dolly Sargent Pillsbury, a direct descendent of William Pillsbury who
landed in Dorchester, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640. Thomas married Lizzie
Fisk in 1859. They had one son George Cutler Andrews. Lizzie died in 1866. In 1871,
Thomas married Lizzie’s sister, Mary. They had two children, Frank Fisk and Dolly Sarah.
Thomas Andrews, Jr. died in 1892. A much loved and respected man of Minneapolis
business and public service, his eulogy is printed in its entirety in the HISTORY OF
MINNEAPOLIS by Isaac Atwater.
The Northland Inn – 1900
George C. Andrews and his mother, Mary, were the executors of the Thomas F. Andrews
Estate and managed all the land holdings left by his father in Minneapolis and at Lake
Minnetonka. In 1900, George C. Andrews partnered with George Draper Dayton, large real
estate holder in Worthington, Minnesota and Minneapolis and future Dayton Department
Store owner, to build the “Northland Inn” on the corner of Bushaway Road and LaSalle
Street. It opened for business in 1901. With the first train stop out of Minneapolis at the
Holdridge Depot, the Northland Inn was the first available hotel. Built on the hill, guests
had a beautiful view of Lake Minnetonka. (The trees were planted later)
The Northland Inn was a Spanish style building with a splash of red and green colors inside
and out. The foundation and roof were red and the pillars on the veranda were painted a
bright “leaf green” edged in white. Inside the paneling of the hallway and the woodwork of
the stairway were red against walls of pale green with a dado of dark green. The huge
fireplace and chimney were also red. The walls of the dining room were painted a soft
yellow with the heavy timbers across the ceiling and the wall paneling in a dark green. It
accommodated 50 guests and 30 more in the adjoining cottages on the property.
25
The Northland Inn was the main feature of the 320 acre “Northland” residential
development advertised as a “new suburb just ten and one-half miles from Loring Park.”
The proposed development stretched from Minnetonka’s shores, north to Gleason Lake and
west to Wayzata’s earlier town line at Central Avenue. The developers were depending on
the newly graded and graveled Superior Boulevard to bring prospective buyers, but they
were to be disappointed and the “Northland-at-Minnetonka” never materialized. In 1903, the
Inn along with 42 acres was sold to C. T. Moffett for $15,000. The balance of the lots was
sold over the next 20 years to individuals who wanted to settle close to the shores of Lake
Minnetonka.
It is hard to pinpoint just when the Northland Inn closed its doors. In 1914, Mary Andrews
writes in her diary that she and Dolly spent three weeks at the Northland. It had several
owners before John Andrews Field, nephew of George C. Andrews, bought the land and
asked the current owner to remove the dilapidated building. John’s son, David, recalls
running across the street to play on the grand piano inside the inn. John purchased the
property and built two houses in the late 1940s at 1425 and 1417 LaSalle Avenue.
Northland Inn
26
FIFTY YEAR OLD and OLDER HOMES
NORTH OF MCGINTY ROAD
1939- ROGERS/EIDE HOUSE--321 Bushaway Road
The property for this house was purchased from Dolly Field by Wendell Rogers in 1938.
The Colonial Revival style house was built by the Rogers the following year. Wendell and
Marguerite had three children, John, Jean and Barbara. Mr. Rogers was an attorney and was
one of the five petitioners who requested annexation of Bushaway and Holdridge
neighborhoods into the City of Wayzata in 1956.
Rogers sold the house to Glen and Mary Eide in 1959. The Eide’s had three children
Kristen, Mitchell and Mark. Glen and Mary raised their children and made it their home the
balance of their lives. They were active members of the Wayzata community, their church,
Wayzata Historical Society and twenty-five year advocates for saving the beauty of
Bushaway Road. In 1980-82, they led the neighborhood’s opposition to create an elongated
bridge over the railroad tracks and denying fill in Lake Minnetonka along the causeway.
Mary died in 2002 and Glenn in 2006. A bronze plaque with the history of the depot was
placed on Wayzata’s Lake Street in their memory by the Wayzata Historical Society. The
home is now owned by their three children who are carrying on the work of their parents
working to save Bushaway Road as a scenic historic neighborhood road.
Rogers/Eide House
Glen and Mary Eide
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1937: THE FIELD HOUSE--324 Bushaway Road
The two story Colonial Revival house we see today was built in 1937 as a summer home for
Dolly Andrews Field, replacing the one that burned down. The wedding of Mary Louise
Field and Gordon Fritch took place at Dolly Field’s Minnetonka home in 1939.
This house is one of three that have been built on the property. The first house was built by
Thomas F. Andrews in 1869. It was a large two story house with a screened wrap around
porch. A second larger house with an open front porch was built sometime later. This house
had many windows on both first and second floors and a front porch with Greek columns
(building date unknown). According to old pictures, this is the house that burned down.
In the early years, a barn was located on
the east side of the house for the
buggies, sleighs and horses. The barn
was razed sometime in the 1930s. The
trapper’s cabin to the south of the house
appears on all of the early pictures of the
houses but its history remains a mystery,
Andrews House in 1869, later replaced by Field House
The Andrews and Fields families also had city homes in SE Minneapolis. These homes are
still standing in what is now the “Marcy-Holmes Historic District,” the oldest neighborhood
in Minneapolis.
Dolly Sarah Andrews married Edward Morse Field,
Jr. September 13, 1904. Dolly was the daughter of
Thomas F. and Mary Fisk Andrews and Edward
Field was the grandson of Cyrus West Field,
founder of the Atlantic Telegraph Company and was
instrumental in laying the Atlantic Telegraph Cable.
Edward and Dolly had four children, Dolly
Stephanie, born 1905, John Andrews born 1909,
Mary Louise, 1911, Inanda Maud (Nonnie) 1917.
Edward and Dolly were divorced in 1928. Edward
later married Joy Woodbury. Dolly did not remarry.
Both George Cutler Andres and his sister Dolly
returned to their childhood home to live out their
lives. George remodeled the house at 527 Fifth
Street SE in Minneapolis into a duplex as it still is
today. George died in 1927 and Dolly in 1961.
Mrs. Edward (Dolly) Morse Field, Jr.
According to the abstract, this property at 324 Bushaway was first owned by Horace Norton
in 1855, followed by Milo Goodwin, Andrew J. and Mary B. White and D. L. Atchinson.
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Atchinson died in 1867. In 1878, his heirs sold the land to Thomas F. Andrews, Jr.
Andrews died in 1892 and the land was held in his estate and eventually divided up between
his wife, Mary, and children George Cutler, Frank and Dolly. In 1896, the house was sold to
a family friend Charles H. Babcock and he in turn sold the 30 acres to Joseph W. Love in
1911. In 1914, Edward Morse Field, Jr. had a Contract for Deed with J. W. Love to
repurchase the house along with the property on either side of the railroad tracks, north of
McGinty Road. He deeded the property to his wife, Dolly.
Andrews 2nd House at 324 Bushaway, circa 1930 – Note Trapper Cabin
John Andrews Field
John was only son of Dolly and Edward Field. He graduated from the University of
Minnesota in 1931 and married Helen Drought of Fergus Falls the same year. He and Helen
made their home in Kenwood in Minneapolis prior to moving to Wayzata where they had a
home for the next 56 years (1940 to 1996). They had two children, David and Warren. John
worked as a comptroller for Sears Roebuck & Company throughout most of his working
career. Like his Grandfather Andrews, he also built houses: 1450 LaSalle (John Field’s first
home at the lake), 1430 LaSalle for sister Nonnie and Roger Stevens, his second home at
310 Bushaway, two houses on the site of the old Northland Inn north of LaSalle and two
houses in Minnetonka Mills. After Bushaway Road and Holdridge became annexed to
Wayzata, John became very interested in local politics and rarely missed a City Council or
Planning Commission meeting. He never sought public office. He was named “Citizen of
the Year” by the Wayzata City Council in 1980. Helen was very active in the Wayzata
Community Church, a life time member of the Waytonka Club, a painter and archivist for
the Minnetonka Art Center and an avid bridge player.
In 1945, John sub-divided the home property placing four plus acres at 310 Bushaway Road
and built a new rambler style home for his family. Helen died in 1994 and John in 1996.
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In May, 1946, John’s mother, Dolly Field, sold the house and property at 324 Bushaway
Road to Paul S. and Elsbeth Nelson. After Mr. Nelson died in 1952, his widow sold the
property to Charles A. and Virginia Huebsch. The present owner purchased the house and
6.23 acres in 1976.
/
The Field House Today (Built in 1937)
1925- THOMAS HOUSE -271 Bushaway Road
This beautiful stucco two and one-half story Tudor style house was designed by Frederick
Strauel, draftsman in the Purcell & Elmslie Architectural firm for Ralph Danforth Thomas.
Strauel of Eden Prairie, Minnesota worked as an engineer for a short time but between 1913
and 1931he was a draftsman for Purcell & Elmslie. Although the house is not a Purcell &
Elmslie design, Strauel’s extensive use of wood throughout the house exudes the warmth
and influence of the Prairie Style of architecture.
Ralph Danforth Thomas, the original owner of 271 Bushaway Road house, was a civil
engineer. He received his B.A. degree in engineering from Tufts College in 1901 and
married classmate, Marian Putnam MacQuinn of Ohlsea, Massachusetts the following year.
They had three children, Miriam Putnam, Ralph Danforth and Leigh Stafford. Who’s Who
of America describes Marian as a strong advocate for women’s suffrage, a member of the
College Women’s Club, Minneapolis Women’s Club, and Daughter of the American
Revolution. She was also an avid gardener who was noted for her beautiful summer flower
gardens.
Ralph Thomas was assistant engineer at the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company,
President of the Minnesota Chapter of American Society of Civil Engineers and later owned
his own company, Ralph D. Thomas Associates, Inc. He was the engineer for several
buildings in the Minneapolis area including Richfield High School in 1954, Methodist
Hospital in 1970 and also served as Civil Engineer for the City of Minneapolis. .
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Architect William Grey Purcell wrote in his parabiography, “that he had in reality
designed five houses for Ralph D. Thomas, beginning in 1913 with a house to be built on
Lake of the Isles. Thomas changed his mind and decided to live at Lake Minnetonka on
property he had purchased from George C. and Mary Andrews (Thomas F. Andrews Estate)
on the corner of Bushaway Road and LaSalle Avenue. Purcell adapted the design for the
Minnetonka lot but when the building costs came in, Thomas thought they were too high
and asked Purcell to design a garage with an apartment above for them to live in
temporarily. The garage consisted of the living room, kitchen and utility rooms and the
bedrooms and bath were above. It had glass sliding garage type doors that pushed to either
side of the outside of the building tucked behind latticed trellises when not in use.
A short time later, on a cold and wintery night, the wind blew a curtain over the gas heater
in the bathroom and the garage house burned to the ground. Mr. Thomas poked out a screen
and his family all escaped and ran down the road to Edward Decker’s home (250 Bushaway
Road) for shelter. Thomas rebuilt on the same site following the original plan line for line.
Unfortunately, about three years later, an electrical wire in a closet sparked a fire and again
the Thomas family was forced to flee their burning “garage home” in the middle of a cold
winter night and the entire building was destroyed. Thomas said, “The fire department was
just too far away to save his house.”
“Garage House” at 271 Bushaway Rd
By 1925, Ralph Thomas had sufficient funds to build a “whole house” but felt he no longer
needed as large a house as originally designed for him by Purcell & Elmslie in 1913. He
contacted his architects Purcell & Elmslie for a new design but by that time Purcell had left
the city for Oregon and Elmslie was engrossed with designing banks and other large scale
enterprises in Chicago so Frederick Strauel, draftsman for Purcell & Elmslie, took matters
into his own hands and designed a totally new project which according to Purcell was of a
“very efficient and satisfying character” for Mr. Thomas. This is the house we see there
today.
31
It is doubtful that many people can claim that Purcell & Elmslie designed a temporary
“Garage House” for them and then have their draftsman design a whole house several years
later! Strauel designed eight additional residences in the Twin Cities area.
When the Thomas sons, Danforth and Leigh, were ready to have homes of their own,
Marian Thomas (Ralph died in 1951) deeded about a half acre of the property to each of her
sons: 231 and 243 Bushaway Road on the north end of their property.
There were several owners of this home
following the death of Ralph and Marian
Thomas. Most significantly, in 1999, M. G.
Kaminski sub-divided the property into three
lots (271, 263, and 255) and called it
“Bushaway Woods.”
The present owner
purchased the house at 271 Bushaway Road
in 2006.
Thomas House today, 271 Bushaway
1912: THE DECKER FARM & HILL HOUSE (1952) – 250 Bushaway Road
In 1912, Edward W. Decker purchased eight and three quarter’s acres from Mary and
George C. Andrews, executors of the estate of Thomas F. Andrews. Decker was president of
Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis. The house was designed by William Gray
Purcell and George Grant Elmslie in 1912 in the prairie style of architecture for which
they were noted. Purcell and Elmslie along with Frank Lloyd Wright worked under Louis
Sullivan of Chicago, founder of the Prairie School of Architecture.
Decker House built in 1912
Lake-facing View on Left and
East-facing View Below
Designed as a
summer residence, the first floor had many large windows to let in light and create a feeling
of bringing the outdoors inside that was a special feature of the Prairie School of
Architecture. The house stood on the hill in the midst of the Big Woods that surrounded
Lake Minnetonka. Leaded glass windows, electroliers and sawed wood beam decorated the
32
interior throughout. A service building which contained the garage and servants quarters
was connected to the main house by a breezeway.
Edward William Decker was born in 1869 on a farm in Mower County near Austin,
Minnesota. After graduating from Austin High School, he sought the broader business
opportunities in Minneapolis where he worked his way up in financial institutions to
become president of Northwestern National Bank. He also served on numerous boards and
was a leader in the progress and prosperity of the community through the advancement of its
commercial, industrial and financial interests. He married Susie May Spaulding in 1892 and
they had a son and four daughters; Edward Spaulding; Margaret, who died in 1918;
Katherine (Winton), Susan (Barrows) and Elizabeth. They were members of the
Minneapolis and Minikahda Clubs and Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts.
Decker enjoyed the house for twenty years, and eventually lost the place because of extreme
financial difficulties during the 1930 Depression. The property was then purchased by Allan
Janney Hill, of Janney, Semple, Hill and Company. Minneapolis hardware business. He
razed the Decker house except for the breezeway and carriage house designed by Purcell &
Elmslie.
Purcell and Elmslie designed
several homes throughout
Minnesota.
This part of the 1912 Decker
House Remains Today
Edward Decker
33
1945- A. J. Hill purchases the Decker House in 1944
The house that replaced the Decker Prairie Style house was built by Allan Janney Hill,
oldest son of Horace Mann Hill of the Janney, Semple, Hill Company. It was designed by
Guy Crawford after an 18th century French Manor and attached to the breezeway and
servants quarters (garage) still standing of the Decker’s house.
The Hill house has two rooms that were originally built in France. The rooms were brought
to America in the mid 1920’s for a New York apartment but never used. They remained in
storage until an antique dealer purchased them for the Hill residence on Bushaway Road.
The paneling from the days of King Louis XV reflects the political times of a more relaxed
atmosphere after the Louis XIV era. The French rooms, with 14 foot ceilings, have
elaborate carvings and exquisite over the doorway paintings. The master bedroom is painted
paneling with gilded carved moldings and original murals that adorn each entrance are
believed to be circa 1730.
Alterations were made to the house by Harold Tearse who purchased the house from Hill in
the late 1950s. They enlarged the kitchen and bedrooms. Mr. Tearse died in 1978 and Mrs.
Tearse remained in the house until 2004 when it was sold to the present owner.
Though it is difficult to believe the Purcell & Elmslie prairie style house would be razed, the
18th century French Manor that replaced it has a unique charm and history of its own. With
the carriage house and walkway still remaining of the Purcell & Elmslie house and made a
part of the newer Guy Crawford French design leaves us with the best of both architectural
styles that continues to enhance the Bushaway neighborhood.
The Allan Hill House
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1957-LEIGH THOMAS HOUSE-243 Bushaway Road
Leigh Thomas was the second son of Ralph D. Thomas, the original owner of 271
Bushaway. His lot was directly behind his brother Danforth’s house. Constructed in 1957,
it is a late example of the Prairie Style. Having grown up in the “garage house” designed by
Purcell & Elmslie, it is not at all unusual that it is of the same style as his boyhood home.
The house has a low hipped roof and wide eaves commonly associated with this style. This
house has a long shared driveway and faces south instead of east towards Bushaway Road.
The present owners purchased the house in 1994.
Leigh Thomas House-243 Bushaway
1954-R. D. THOMAS, JR. HOUSE--231 Bushaway Road
This 1950s rambler was designed by Architect George Freeberg and built by Reuben O.
Johnson for Ralph Danforth Thomas, Jr., son of Ralph and Marian Thomas next door,
Thomas sold the house in 1978 to the present owners and left behind on a closet shelf, a box
containing all the receipts pertaining to the building of his house along with the architect’s
blueprints. A delight for the new homeowner and a historian’s dream! The house remains
much as it was built although the present owners have replaced the siding and completed
extensive landscaping that included stone walls to replace the original railroad ties.
231 Bushaway Road
35
1906: THE DODGE FARM – (Leeward) 218 Bushaway
The original house and farm buildings (the red house, barn and chicken coop) were built in
1906. The Decker children recall living in the farmhouse called “Leeward” while their
house was being constructed in 1912. The next owners, the Dodges lived in the Leeward
farm house while their house, “Windward,” on the northeast corner of Highway 12
(Wayzata Boulevard) was being constructed. The farm was owned by Edwin “Ned” Dodge
and his wife Anne Winton Dodge from 1939 to 1959.
Dodge Farm Barn, Restored
Original Dodge Farm House, 1906
The Walter Albers family rented Leeward during World War II. That was the last time it
was a working farm with sheep, cows and chickens. The Albers family was followed by Dr.
Nate Plimpton and family from 1947 to 1954. The Plimptons remember a windmill
between the house and the barn. The Plimpton kids also remember jumping out the second
story hayloft door into piles of hay below!
In 1959, the old farmhouse, barn and chicken coop were sub-divided from the Dodge
acreage. Dick and Jane Noland, who were renting it at the time, purchased the small parcel
and lived there a total of 34 years. Jane Noland says “they probably lived there longer than
any other family including the original dwellers whoever they were!” The Nolands added a
sizeable addition in keeping with the original flavor of the house in 1963 which was
thoughtfully designed by Architect Karl Humphrey and built by Joe Boyer. With the
expansion, the house was painted barn red as it remains to this day. The Nolands borrowed
the Dodges’ field next door and kept horses for friends, at one time pasturing as many as ten
horses.
The Nolands sold the property to Architect Dan Avchen in 1989. He designed another
addition for the east end of the house and brought balance to the whole house. They also
completely remodeled the interior, and turned the large chicken coop into a studio. Avchen
also added the lap pool on the southeast lawn.
The present owners purchased the house in 2002. They added their own touches by
converting the barn into an entertainment building for family and friends. Each addition has
been created to add to the barn style architecture by knowledgeable residents. They also
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added a deck and landscaping that turned the once “scraggly farmyard” into a well
manicured lawn.
The Dodge Farm House “Leeward” at 218 Bushaway in 2008
1939-THE HOWARD HOUSE--217 Bushaway Road
This delightful Cape Cod was designed by Magney, Tusler & Setter, Architects and
Engineers, for Robert L. and Martha Howard. Mr. Howard was a Grain Trader at the
Minneapolis Stock Exchange. In 1962. The Howards sold the house to Frank C. and Jean
Blodgett and their family. Mr. Blodgett was Vice Chairman of General Mills (1961-1992).
There have only been three owners of the house. The present owners purchased the house
in 1983.
However, the property has had several owners. In 1855, it was part of Amasa Richard’s
preempted quarter section. Other land owners were Joseph and Annie Lacher, George
Draper Dayton, Kenneth Dayton Williams, William Bleakley and Roberta Cargill. One of
the early owners of the land built a log cabin on the property.
Cargill owned the property from 1927-37. According to the abstract, in 1930, Streeter
Lumber Company filed a lien against Roberta Cargill’s property for “lumber and building
materials for the construction, erection, alteration and repair of buildings on the property” at
a total cost of $1153.93. Perhaps the alterations were to the log cabin that Robert Howard
says was on the property when he purchased it in 1937.
The Howards considered incorporating the cabin with its large fireplace into the plans for
the house to be used as a library. Apparently, there was a change of plans as the cabin is not
a part of the house nor is it still there and was probably razed at that time. Did Roberta
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Cargill build the cabin or remodel it? Was it a summer cabin at the lake or did it belong to
an early settler? A mystery to be solved.
Magney, Tusler & Setter, Architects designed the Foshay Tower in 1929, the Minneapolis
Post Office, the Young Quinlan Building, and the Carlton College Historic Facilities
Management Building to name just a few.
Howard House, 217 Bushaway
1952-THE SHARPLESS HOUSE --167 Bushaway Road
This contemporary flat roofed rambler with a front walkout was built by Don and Portia
Sharpless in the late ‘50s on one and one-half acres of the Amasa Richards, Lacher or
Dayton property. At one time, it was part of the 320 acres of the George D. Dayton and
George C. Andrews plan for the “Northland” suburb to Minneapolis. When it failed to
materialize Dayton began selling off the lots.
The house has had several owners: The Harold Hansons (1950s), Dean Weilands (1974),
James Hovland (1979), Don & Jay Osborne (1988), and Hages (1999). The present owners
purchased the house in 2004.
Sharpless House, 167 Bushaway
.
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1910-THE CABIN--121 Bushaway Road
This 1.18 acre lot was part of Amasa Richard’s preempted quarter section in 1854 and sold
to Susan Gale in 1864. In 1879, all of Government Lot 1 was sold to Joseph and Annie
Lacher and in 1901 to George Draper Dayton. Dayton sold the land to Ralph Hoy in 1919.
The parcel appears to have consisted of three lots at one time numbers 3, 4 and 5.
Ralph, Irene, and Katherine Hoy McGill (Dr. J. Leonard McGill) were brother and sisters.
According to stories told by Katherine to her children, the family came out to Lake
Minnetonka in both summer and winter to spend time in the little cabin on Bushaway Road.
The abstract claims a man named Ralph Manuel sold the property to Ralph Hoy in 1919.
Ann McGill recalls visiting her Aunt Irene Hoy at the cabin but does not recall the date.
The McGill children believe there was only one large room (living room) and a porch at that
time and later Ralph made a bedroom out of part of the porch.
The Hoys added the first addition of kitchen, dining room and bathroom. The McGills also
recall the addition of the front entry and front door. When the present owners remodeled the
kitchen, they found a 1940 newspaper between the walls which would indicate the addition
date.
And that is precisely how history unfolds, from artifacts between walls and tucked into attic
rafters and remembrances from someone’s childhood days. The mystery of who built the
original cabin, and when, still waits to be proven but it may be only one story away from
being solved. The present owners are “sleuthers” themselves, leaving no stone or board
unturned that might reveal some history of their home which was once someone’s one room
cabin at the lake. Previous histories tell about many “fishing cabins” in the Old Holdridge
area, often consisting of only one room with a porch. The present owners purchased the
house in 1994 and added the “north” side bedroom, laundry room and enlarged the kitchen
in 2001.
The Cabin Today, 121 Bushaway Rd
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1936: THE EDWIN DODGE HOUSE (Windward)--100 Bushaway Road
This beautiful two story Colonial Revival with clapboard siding was designed by Architect
Clyde W. Smith for Edwin “Ned” Dodge, his wife Anne Winton Dodge and family. Ann
Dodge was the daughter of Katherine Decker Winton, and a granddaughter of Edward
Decker owner of the first house at 250 Bushaway Road.
ILYA Racing in 1929, Ned Dodge on far right
Wedding of Ann Winton Dodge
Ned grew up in Minneapolis, graduated from Blake School in 1926 and Yale University in
1930. He joined Marsh McLennan, Inc. as an underwriter in 1931, and he became vice
president of the company in 1939. Ned was a great sailing enthusiast, along with many other
young men who lived on or near Lake Minnetonka.
Dodge House (“Windward”), in 1936
Ned Dodge was a member of the Wayzata City Council, appointed to replace Cliff Meyer,
in 1956 shortly after the annexation of the Bushaway neighborhood to Wayzata. He was
elected for a three year term in 1957. It was during his term on the council that he requested
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the city to officially rename the section of County Road 101 from the Grays Bay Bridge to
Wayzata Boulevard Bushaway Road because it sounded more “neighborhood like.” Ned
died suddenly of a heart attack in 1958
This land was originally owned by Thomas F. Andrews and after his death in 1892 was
managed by his son George Cutler Andrews. In 1913, twelve and one half acres along
Bushaway Road were owned by George Draper Dayton. The farm buildings known as “the
Dodge Farm” at 218 Bushaway Road were originally part of the property until subdivided in
1959.
.
Mr. and Mrs. John E. Andrus, III purchased “Windward” in 1959 and lived there until 1975.
Mr. Andrus also served on the Wayzata City Council (1958-61). Andrus sold the house to
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson of Honeywell. The following year, Anderson was transferred to the
Boston Honeywell office and the house and property were purchased by the present owner
in December, 1976.
Dodge House (“Windward”), in 2008
The End of the Road
The one mile plus of Bushaway Road begins at the center of the Grays Bay Bridge at
Wayzata City limits and ends at Wayzata Boulevard. From there it continues west on
Wayzata Boulevard, north on Central Avenue to the 394 By-pass and on into the City of
Plymouth.
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BUSHAWAY ROAD 150 YEARS
1858-2008
BUSHAWAY ROAD CELEBRATES ITS SESQUICENTENNIAL
This one mile plus portion of County Road 101, called “Bushaway Road,” meanders its
way through one of Wayzata’s finest residential areas. This picturesque road, that may well
have been a Native American trail, didn’t qualify as a “Historic Road” because of the many
changes to the road surface. After extensive research and locating the original survey map
of 1858 it was discovered, however, that Bushaway Road could celebrate its 150th year
anniversary in 2008 along with Minnesota’s 150 years of statehood! We did just that—we
had a birthday party complete with cake and lemonade. It was open to the public. Very
exciting!
Bushaway Road has history—from the soft step of the moccasins on the Native American
trail, the muddy ruts of horse and wagon cart ways, the early motor cars kicking up dust and
gravel and the automobiles of today rolling over its smooth bituminous surface, it has
history-150 years worth. It’s been a great ride! For Wayzatans it is more than a road from
Shakopee to Dayton. It is a scenic forested connection through Wayzata that continues
around the lake. The ivy covered stone walls and iron gates that mark the private driveways
to the gracious houses on the bay have been there since the early 1900s. Century old oaks,
maples and weeping willows align the roadway and lend their natural beauty to the scenic
drive as it wends its way through the historic Bushaway neighborhood.
All Minnesota residents were invited to celebrate and join the Bushaway Neighborhood.
The Wayzata Heritage Preservation Board and the Wayzata Historical Society for this
meaningful historic event: the SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF
BUSHAWAY ROAD!
Press Release
Sesquicentennial Celebration of Bushaway Road
Wayzata City Hall Community Room
November 1, 2008
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
AMASA RICHARDS LETTERS AND TAX DOCUMENTS, Minnesota Historical Society
ARCHITECTURE AND ARTS OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI - Edited by Andrew
Conferti, 1969
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE DRAPER DAYTON - By George Draper Dayton, 1933
BOXCAR OF PEACHES-NASH FAMILY HISTORY by Bruce Gjovig, 1990
BUSHAWAY ROAD HISTORIC DISTRICT EVALUATION,-Mead & Hunt, 2009
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MINNESOTA ROAD SYSTEM. By Arthur J. Larsen, 1966
EARLY HISTORY OF LOCUST HILLS - by Andrew Schmidt, Summit Envirosolutions
2006
FOLLOW ME, The Life of J. B. Hawley, By Carol Pine. 2007
GEORGE DRAPER DAYTON - A MAN OF PARTS by Bruce Dayton, 1997
HAPPENINGS AROUND WAYZATA ,THE FIRST 100 YEARS by Ellen Wilson
Meyer,1980
HARRY WILD JONES - Biography by Elizabeth Vandam, 2008
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT - MINNEAPOLIS FIRST NEIGHBORHOOD by Penny A.
Petersen
HISTORIC MINNETONKA MILLS, GATEWAY TO LAKE MINNETONKA by Avery
Stubbs, 1987
HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES OF WAYZATA, By Robert
Vogel 2003
HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, Judge Isaac Atwater & Col
John Stevens
HISTORY OF MINNESOTA by Rev. Edward D. Neill, 1882
LIFE ONTHE DODGE FARM, THE RED HOUSE 2007, by Jane Thomas Noland
MAPS OF LAKE MINNETONKA, MINNESOTA, HENNEPIN COUNTY DATING
FROM 1860-1896,Minnesota Historical Society Reflections - Internet
MEMOIRS BY Bayard Shaver, Hennepin County Pioneer Museum
MINNETONKA TWPS ROAD TAX RECORDS, Hennepin County History Museum
MINUTES OF MINNETONKA TOWNSHIP, THE EARLY YEARS, Minnesota Historical
Society
OLD RAIL FENCE CORNERS, Edited by Lucy Leavenworth Wilder Morris, 1976
ONCE UPON A LAKE by Thelma Jones 1969
PICTURESQUE MINNETONKA by Russell D. Brackett
THE BROOKS HOUSE, Minneapolis and St. Paul Magazine
THOMAS AND MARY ANDREWS JOURNALS AND PICTURES, David and Nancy
Field
TRACING MINNESOTA GOVERNMENT ROADS, by Grover Singley, 1885
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Looking North on Bushaway Road from the Railroad Tracks, 1915
Looking North on Bushaway Road Today
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